Board Board Member Member Spotlight Spotlight
Kenneth Winston Starr , JD
A Shining Starr
hile many people are familiar
W with my legal career , few may know that I ’ ve always had a lifelong love for academia — lecturing , teaching , and serving on boards of universities and law schools . It was this call to be engaged in the world of higher education that drew me to Pepperdine School of Law and now to Baylor University in Waco .
It was personally and professionally fulfilling to return to Texas . As a sixthgeneration Texan , I come from a family that has a pretty firm footprint in the history of East Texas . But we Starrs have managed to infiltrate Central Texas as well . In fact , when my selection as president of Baylor University was announced , many thought it was my cousin Kent Starr , a local dentist , who also happens to be a Baylor alum and a former Baylor football player . We all had a good laugh when members of the media began rushing into his dental office vying for the first interview .
Accepting the invitation to join the board of Scott & White Healthcare seemed to be a very good fit on several levels : Scott & White is a worldrenowned organization . I care deeply about healthcare issues , which are also a part of the Baylor mission — service to humanity on both a personal and an institutional level . And Baylor is deeply committed to the healing professions . Baylor University was chartered only 50 years before Scott & White formally organized , so they have essentially grown up together , and both institutions reflect the culture of Central Texas and all that is good about it .
As a new board member , I come to Scott & White with a strong sense of commitment as well as humility . There is much to learn , but so far I love the experience . I am constantly learning about the work of the many subcommittees and am waiting to see where my calling will be . I am looking forward to that need being identified .
Gifts that go beyond Roberta Mahan , my journalism teacher at Sam Houston High School in San Antonio , was definitely one of my most memorable mentors . She said I had tenacity , and after I had completed a year of college in Arkansas , she was the one who encouraged me to “ go where the action was ” and head east . That ’ s when I enrolled at George Washington University to study political science and history .
One of my most rewarding — and daunting — endeavors has been my involvement in Advocates International , a Christian nonprofit human rights organization that preserves and protects religious freedoms around the world . For the past 15 years , I have been blessed to work with lawyers and advocates all over the world who recognize that individual religious liberties are constantly being threatened .
The ability to practice one ’ s faith and to have spiritual consultation is an integral component of human wellbeing . It would be sad for an individual not to have the comfort and succor of spiritual guidance during a hospital stay — whether it ’ s through a chaplain or other clergy . It ’ s important for both the patient and his or her family .
The one value I hope I bring to my position at Baylor , as well as to my board seat at Scott & White , is the gift of encouragement . It is good to have encouragers , people who can identify the gifts and talents of others and help them achieve excellence by employing those abilities .
Beyond Baylor I ’ m an avid jogger . I try to run three to four miles as many days as I can .
30 The Catalyst Winter / Spring 12 | sw . org